Episode 605: Emails for the Asking
Date January 28, 2015 Summary Ben and Sam answer listener emails about a world without the minors, bigger bats, Ernie Banks, and more. Topics * Baseball without the minor leagues * Using heavier bats to beat the shift * Does momentum matter in baseball? * Randy Johnson's career trajectory * Best players without postseason experience Intro Of Montreal, "Please Tell Me So" Banter * Ben is going to go sledding in Central Park after finishing recording the podcast. * Ben and Sam agree that it has been a slow week for both banter and baseball. Email Questions * Sean: "Let us imagine that in an attempt to curtail global warming backfires and results in global cooling that while short of catastrophic makes it cost prohibitive for MLB teams to support minor league baseball. What would MLB be like without the minors? Let us assume that all other amateur baseball survived unscathed?" * Michael: using a heavier bat to hit to the opposite field "Is this a way for hitters to try to beat the shift or would it mess up swing mechanics to the point where it would be counter productive?" * Francis (New York, NY): "In the podcast with Dirk Hayhurst he mentioned the concept of momentum in the pitcher-battle struggle. Do you think that meaningful momentum exists in any aspect of the game? Does the ball really look like a balloon to hitters who have found a groove? To what extent does momentum matter? When have we seen it recently?" * Neil: "I was wondering if you guys think Ernie Banks was the greatest player in the modern era to never play a postseason game. If not, who?" Play Index * Sam uses the Play Index to examine all time great pitchers, particularly the career path of Randy Johnson. He charts where Johnson's career WAR ranked among all pitchers of his age. * At age 27 Randy Johnson was the 813th greatest pitcher of all time for age 27 by WAR (since 1920). * At age 29 he was the 334th greatest pitcher of all time for age 29 by WAR. * At age 35 he was 37th of all time for that age. Notes * Sam makes a reference to Snowpiercer when discussing the potential catastrophe in Sean's questions. * Both Ben and Sam agree that there would be a lower quality of play without the minor leagues since many players would justify taking a roster spot but not be highly developed. * Ben and Sam are both willing to believe that momentum exists in baseball but think it could more often just be clustering of a player performing above their true talent level. * Ben picks Greg Maddux as the best pitcher ever (though he is hesitant to make a decision) and Sam picks Pedro Martinez. * Ernie Banks played 2,528 career games without a single postseason appearance. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 605: Emails for the Asking Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes